Gear Review: Thermarest Women’s ProLite Sleeping Pad

I bought the Thermarest Women’s ProLite Sleeping Pad wanting a combination of lightness (since I’m a semi-ultralight backpacker) but also needing a lot of comfort since in general, I sleep terribly while backpacking and camping (working on that!) This pad was with me through several major trips — climbing Half Dome, backpacking in Yosemite, camping in Big Sur, and more.

Stats:

Self-inflating (but I usually used breath anyways, which only took a few.)

I don’t own this pad anymore (hence the old iPhone photos from when I was selling it.) Here’s a current image from REI:

Pros:

Light and small.

Wrapped easily using a headlamp as a strap.

Inflated quickly with help from breath, as mentioned above.

Comfortable, if I was sleeping on my back. Others with hips smaller than mine said it was very comfortable.

Cons:

I’m a side-sleeper with large hips, and this pad was always uncomfortable. I tried sleeping in all sorts of different side positions to mitigate the pain, as well as inflating the mattress differently (completely taut, a bit of give, etc.) — never was able to feel comfortable sleeping on my side.

This huge con lead to me selling the pad, so I’m on the lookout for a new one (currently investigating the pads by Big Agnes). If you don’t have hips like mine, I think this pad would be great — my boyfriend switched pads with me the last night of backpacking and reported that he was very comfortable. However, if you’re a side-sleeper and have large hips, I would recommend looking elsewhere.

Have you used the Thermarest Women’s ProLite? Thoughts? Recommendations for other pads?